Cheltenham Racecourse
Gold Cup • Cheltenham Festival

Cheltenham RacecourseThe racecourse is situated in Gloucestershire and holds National Hunt races. Cheltenham Racecourse is particularly well known for holding the Cheltenham Gold Cup and the Cheltenham Festival.

National Hunt Racing
This is the racing of horses over fences covering a distance of around two to three miles.

The Courses
There are three courses at Cheltenham:

The Old Course

The New Course

The Cross Country Steeplechase Course

History
Racing at Cheltenham first began in 1815 where flat racing took place at Nottingham Hill.

By 1818 horse racings popularity increased and the race meetings moved to Cleeve Hill which has views over where the racecourse is currently situated.

In 1829 the annual Gold Cup meeting was disrupted and the stadium was actually burnt down by the following year. This opposition came about largely from the Cheltenham Parish priest at the time called Reverend Francis Close whose preaching's about the evils of horse racing to his congregation led to the racecourse actually having to move to avoid further violent disruption.

The new chosen venue for the racecourse was Prestbury Park which is where it still remains today.

In 1898 Steeplechase first arrived at the venue having been moved from Andoversford where it had been long established since 1834.

In 1964 to secure the future of racing at Cheltenham the Racecourse Holdings Trust was formed, this trust is now known as the Jockey Club Racecourses and reinvests its profits into the continued success of horse racing.

In the 1960's to cope with the growing number of race enthusiasts the Tattersalls Grandstand was opened and in the 1980's the main Grandstand was also completed.

In 1997 the Tattersalls Grandstand was knocked down and replaced with a restaurant and tiered viewing over the racecourse.

Horses
All horses participating must be fit and in excellent condition in order to travel at speeds of up to 35mph. There are several vets on site with access to horse ambulances if required.

The Going
This is the term given for the ground conditions, which are as follows: